Sheen courts controversy with end of the world film

Martin Sheen is to go ahead with a film which dramatises the end of the world despite the current world situation.

According to the Sunday People, Martin Sheen will play an Irish monk in End of Times, a film based on the prophecies of St Malachy who apparently predicted that the world would end soon after the death of Pope John Paul II.

Ted McDonnell of the film's producers Orient West Pictures said American distributors had backed away from the project since the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on September 11.

"Unfortunately the subject matter which seemed quite esoteric and far-fetched some months ago has scared off American distributors," he told the newspaper. "Luckily though, the financial backing is European."

It is not the first time that Sheen has courted controversy recently. The TV series The West Wing in which he plays the president of the United States made a special episode last month specifically about the American terrorist attacks.